Rating: 
Summary: HONOR AND DEDICATION
Review: I'm writing this review in response to those who deemed this movie not worthy. It is in fact a wonderful story about human nature (both good and bad), honor, decency, ethics, values, leadership and the impact, for good, that dedicated scholars and teachers can have upon our impressionable youngsters. The story takes place in a upscale prep academy in New England named Saint Benedicts School for Boys. OUR TEACHER
"It is not living that is important but living rightly. How will history judge you?" Roman and Greek civilization teacher, William Hundert is magnificently played by Kevin Kline. Our teacher is a honorable and principled man, striving to inspire his students to be ethical and moral by being such a model.
Mr Hundert truly enjoys his work. Teaching young boys and trying to influence and mold their character is his lifes work and he is truly in his element. THE STUDENTS
"Great ambition and conquest without contribution is without significance. What will your contribution be?" The story centers around Mr Hundert and four students, Martin Blyth, Freddie Masoudi, Deepak Mehta and a troubled young man named Sedgewick Bell. Martin Blyth, whose father is an alum and past winner of The Emperor's Club (A contest not unlike a spelling bee), feels pressure to replicate his fathers achievement. Freddie Masoudi is somewhat of a character and Deepak Mehta is of East Indian descent and academic background. Sedgewick Bell is an unhappy young man, whose father, as a U.S. Senator, has pretty much ignored Sedgewick his whole life. Because of this, Sedgewick has a knack for entertaining himself, usually by methods that get him into trouble. Sedgewick, though troubled, is a born leader, with charm and charisma and soon the other three boys are drawn like a magnet to pal around with him and by association they also get in trouble. The Plot
"All of us are forced to look in the mirror and see who we really are." Mr Hundert is a wonderful teacher, just the kind you would wish for your own children, however, when confronted with a problem child, Sedgewick Bell, son of Senator Hyram Bell, he bends a rule or two which he lives to regret. Sedgewick is a late addition to Hundert's class and seems to want to test Hundert at every opportunity. From Mr. Hundert's perspective, Sedgewick for some reason reminds him of himself and therefore he makes every effort to light a fire under Sedgewick. After numerous incidents involving Sedgewick, which include attempting to skinny dip across the lake at the girls school and likening Hunderts beloved Roman Emperors to the Beatles and the Seven Dwarves, Hundert meets with the boys father, the Senator where he learns firsthand the cause of the problem. Undaunted, Hunert redoubles his efforts with Sedgewick and then seemingly and inexplicably starts to make progress. Sedgewick ostensibly becomes a model student and Hundert is quite pleased with himself. But who is influencing whom? It seems Mr. Hundert is making small concession after concession toward or for the benefit of our erstwhile troublesome student A yearly event at St Benedicts is the Emperor's Club contest, whereas the top three students in Hundert's class get to face off in front of the students and faculty.
Hundert, after just finishing grading the classes, essay type, Finals papers, notices that Sedgewick is in fourth place just behind Martin Blyth. Hundert then makes a dubious decision, which doesn't exactly work out by increasing Sedgewicks grade to place him in the contest. Though it was within his right to make this adjustment, it is in Hundert's mind, a blemish upon his integrity. Twenty Five Years Later Sedgewick now CEO of one of the largest companies in the world recreates the Emperor's Club contest in which he lost earlier and in which Hundert caught but did not expose him cheating. Mr. Hundert and the other students are brought in, all expenses paid toward this purpose. Hundert will again be the M.C. and Masoudi and Metha will again contest Sedgewick and Mr. Hundert will be honored as the great teacher he is. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. Side Stories Two interesting side stories take place which bear mentioning. Hundert is obviously in love with a staff member named Elizabeth and she him. However she is married and Hundert's code of honor will not allow him to do anything. A new teacher, Charles Ellerby a protege of Hundert's is quite the politician and when it's time for the board to name a new headmaster, Hundert, to his total surprise, is passed over in favor of Ellerby. Hundert, noting the slight, resigns on the spot.
Rating:
Summary: Kevin Kline Shines--So What Else Is New? A Fine Film
Review: The Emperor's Club is as fine a movie as I've seen in a long time; it proves the point that special effects and car chases do not a good movie make--good acting and a story that holds one's interest are the key. And good acting is there from all of the principals, especially Kevin Kline, as Mr. Hundert, the teacher all of us wish we had had once upon a time. His love of his students and his subject shine through in his interactions in and out of the classroom. Rob Morrow (I've missed him)gives a fine performance as a fellow teacher, and Edward Herrmann is also excellent as the Headmaster. Harris Yulin provides another of his nasty, arrogant characters he does so well; Emile Hirsch plays his son, Sedgwick Bell (Is that name for real?), a handsome, charismatic underachiever, whom Hundert does his best to help find the beauty of learning, the rewards of honor, and, not incidentally, some self-respect, even at the expense of another student. Look for Roger Rees (Cheers, Nicholas Nickleby, Robin Hood Men in Tights)in a cameo as one of the school's directors. The boys are excellent. I wish I knew the actors' names to give them credit, but I don't. The adult former students are played by Patrick Dempsey (Sweet Home Alabama) and Steven Culp (JAG), among others. Joel Gretsch plays the older Sedgwick Bell, who was turned out as one might expect rather than one might have hoped. And Hundert lives through his disappointment and emerges triumphant. A very, very good movie.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Film that Went Under the Radar
Review: The first thing that most people will think when they see this film is that it is an updated version of "Dead Poets' Society." The two films do have a lot in common: An inspiring teacher (Kline, in a superb performance), a reluctant student, and an elite boys school set in the 1950s. There, however, the similarities end. While "Dead Poets" was about a boy's coming of age, "Emperor's Club" is about a teacher's coming to grips with his life's failure. Personal character is the central theme, and it is approached in a truly inspired manner. I will leave the rest a surprise. This film will make you think about life; about successes and failures; and about the importance of virtue in one's life. Film's like this do not come around very often, and it is a true shame that "Emperor's Club" was overlooked while in theaters. I consider this film to be a masterpiece. Final Note: The cinematography in this film is absolutely stunning and will make you envious of those who have attended schools like the fictional "St. Benedict's."
Rating:
Summary: The Worth of a Man is Not Measured Only by One Act
Review: Some of the best known inspirational teacher movies--DEAD POET'S SOCIETY, GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, TO SIR WITH LOVE--all portray the hero as a teacher with an unswerving moral vision. These teachers not only inspired, but had to overcome the usual host of student impediments to learn. In THE EMPEROR'S CLUB, director William Hoffman gives us Kevin Kline as Professor Hundert, an imposing teacher of Roman and Greek history at the mythical St. Benedict's Preparatory School for Boys. Unlike the three other celluloid teachers, Kline's Hundert is more of a real world teacher in that he is faced with choices that these real world teachers have to do, namely that the difference between right and wrong and between ethical and unethical is not black and white. In Hundert's tidy world of Assistant Headmaster and teacher of Western Civilization, he sees a tendency to view the inevitability of historical cause and effect as a prelude to see human relations in the same way. Sedgewick Bell is the new student in his class. Bell is willful, lazy, disobedient, and prone to cheating. However, Hundert sees Bell as a project that tests his own ability to reach out and do more than teach history or values for that matter. In a meeting with Bell's father, a pushy and abrasive U. S. Senator, Hundert is told that his job is to teach, not to mold minds. This warning by the elder Mr. Bell is a foreshadowing that Hundert will spend the remainder of the movie in molding, rather than teaching, Sedgewick. Hundert tries every method of exhortation that he knows, and in a crucial student competition of history, Hundert faces the queasy choice of eliminating Sedgewick based only on his merit, or rewarding him by unfairly placing him in the final round of three. Hundert decides to place Sedgewick as a finalist, thereby depriving another of his rightfully earned place. Hundert's choice, though morally questionable, is one that many teachers face on a daily basis. Director Hoffman does not allow Kline to either validate or reject his choice. Instead, what Kline does is to balance a host of factors in his attempt to reach out to a troubled boy who has clearly suffered at the hands of a nasty and brutal martinet of a father. There is no right or wrong, since the result of Hundert's tinkering with ethics might have worked in turning around the life of a boy who is on track that threatens to turn him into the newest reincarnation of his father. Kline's performance as Hundert is emotionally wrenching, if not satisfying. Kline is massively dignified and is aware that his own morality must impact on his students. Other movie teachers, by comparison, are seen as rigidly benevolent. Can you imagine Robin Williams or Sidney Poitier as cheating to help a recalcitrant student? The success or failure of Hundert to make a lasting impact on a morally deficient student is seen as less important than the recognition that the worth of one such as Sedgewick Bell cannot be measured by the completion of one act of heroism or dastardliness. THE EMPEROR'S CLUB suggests that people are more complex than the results of one of their acts. Hundert learns this, even if his students do not.
Rating:
Summary: Character counts
Review: Kevin Kline stars as William Hundert, a respected history teacher at an exclusive boys school, who meets his match in Sedgewick, a new boy who wants only to ridicule and test him. Hundert allows the boy a spot in a prestigious school competition, but he cheats, thus setting his future path. At a reunion twenty-five years later, Hundert discovers that most of his former students turned out to be honorable men, but Sedgewick is not among them. This film is often compared to other teacher films, as it should be, such as Goodbye, Mr. Chips and The Dead Poets Society. Kline's quiet, confident portrayal of a man who lives by the ideals of honor and duty is wonderful, without being sentimental. Emile Hirsch as Sedgewick is brash and likeable. Joel Gretsch plays Sedgewick twenty-five years later, as a charming, successful, and immoral man. I heartily recommend this subtle, yet profound and realistic film, which shows how one outstanding teacher positively affects the lives of many, though not all, of his students, and shows the importance, even the necessity, of honor in one's life.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing, inspiring
Review: One of the most wonderful movies I have seen in some time- it covered topics that could have easily been cliched and overly moralistic- it could have been predictable and sappy. It was none of those things. I thought I knew exactly what I would be seeing, and I was wrong. Incidently, this is a film about a great teacher, at a boys prep school, and how he changes the lives of his students, and in one case doesn't. This film becomes more profound the more I reflect on it- it was more real than a movie, than most movies that try to be real even are. I constantly failed in my predictions of where this was going while watching it. This will be among my favorite films I have ever seen. Films than inspired me to live my life differently. And not just because I'm a teacher...
Rating: 
Summary: "The end depends upon the beginning"
Review: In this marvelous movie we find ourselves facing the concept of how important teachers are, how they shape our lives and how they give us the tools for succeeding as individuals. Most of the viewers will probably find themselves at some point reminiscing with nostalgia about one or more of the influential teachers in their lives. The story line presents similarities with movies like "Dead Poets Society", with both Robin Williams in that case and Kevin Kline in this one playing the roles of outstanding educators. The film starts with Mr. Hundert (Kline), a retired teacher after a career of thirty-four years, showing up at a reunion with his class of 1976. This was a group of students that marked him deeply, and he goes on to remember the events that lead to that situation. Mr. Hundert is history teacher, covering Western Civilizations, the Greeks and the Romans; he is very passionate about his job and the students adore him. Every year a history competition is held, with the winner being crowned as Julius Caesar. Everything is working out perfectly, until Sedgewick Bell, a new student, joins the St. Benedict School for boys. Sedgewick is the son of a senator for West Virginia and he transforms the anger he carries due to his father's lack of interest in his life, in irreverence, contempt and arrogance. Mr. Hundert has to find a way to control this new student and motivate him into having goals and aspirations, before he jeopardizes the teacher's control over the rest of the class. One of the tools to achieve this is the Julius Caesar competition. This highly enjoyable movie gets people thinking on the importance of the building blocks in each person's life and on how teachers are, as much as parents, part of shaping this base. Kevin Kline presents a highly skilled performance, showing his usual aptitude for portraying different characters and adapting equally well to dramatic and humorous situations. I learn to appreciate history in the late years of my high school journey. I am convinced that it would have been different if I had encountered a teacher like Mr. Hundert.
Rating:
Summary: It is the ethical life that's important.
Review: After watching this subtle and well-made film, one cannot help but make comparisons to other films about teachers and their profound though sometimes underrated influence they have on their students. One of the more famous of this genre is the British film, staring Peter O'Tool, adapted from the novel, Good Bye Mr. Chips. The more recent American film, Mr. Holland's Opus, was a wonderful film, though a touch too sentimental for my tastes. Another early American film, and virtually a forgotten one was Good Morning Miss Dove, that had a deep effect on me as a child as she was depicted as a pillar of strength and virtue, which, over the forty years of her long tenure, contributed to shaping the character of an entire small town. Dead Poets Society, another prep school situation, was perfect for its time, and a defining moment for comedic actor, Robin Williams, who showed his audience he could actually do a dramatic role, and do it quite well. The general theme from all these films is the positive influence teachers can have on our lives. We change for the better because of their influence and the little things they show us about life. However this film approaches this genre from a different perspective. Can one wrong ethical choice about a student, from the teacher's perspective, affect the outcome and long-term character of that student? It is difficult to describe some of the details of plot without spoiling the entire movie. Let's just say that Kevin Kline's character, a history teacher in a privileged private school, believes that teaching is not merely passing on 'facts', but about moulding character, making boy's into virtuous adults. Because of his enthusiasm over the 'turn around' of a particularly troubled student, wanting him to succeed, as most good teachers want us to do, he violates his own integrity, simply turning a grade from an A minus to an A plus, which could well have altered the fate of this individual student. Later in the film, upon discovering an unethical situation, because of politics and its 'complications', does not, in my mind, do the right thing. The ending of this film is surprising as we expect circumstances to turn out differently. But there is a message, and a good one. Kevin Kline was perfect in the role as the teacher and seems to have a natural sense about what real teachers are all about. I believe this because he reminds me of an old teacher I once had in high school who had a big affect on my views about history, books and learning in general. The Emperor's Club is a excellent film about teaching, character and what it means to have integrity. It is just as good as all the aforementioned films, and in some cases, even better.
Rating:
Summary: "How WIll You Be Remembered?" B Plus School Drama
Review: You are Mr. William Hundert (Kevin Kline, perfect), a dedicated Roman history teacher at a prep shoool in the early 1970s. And you are quite doing well, ardently infusing the belief of education into the students who honestly respect you. Then, a senetor's son Sedgewick Bell (Emile Hirsch) is sent to your class, whose idea of spending time in school is totally different than yours, not taking any of your words seriously. In short, the defiant new boy Sedgewick needs help. Mr. Hundert wouldn't be defeated, however, and a kind of battle of will starts. And after all, the boy has a brain, and a good one, too. He starts to learn earnestly, and joins in the prestigeous 'Julius Caesar' contest, where lots of tough questions about the Roman history are asked. Surprisingly, Sedgewick is one of the finalists, and the teacher is now happy until he discovers something very annoying, something that shakes his belief fundamentally. And 25 years later, an invitation comes from Sedgewick. Mr. Hundert accpets it, and find the truths about his character. The comaprison with "Dead Poets Society" or "Mr. Holland's Opus" (though the latter is not about prep school) is understandable. One common factor is that the central character is played by great actor with first-rate performance, and "Emperor's Club" can boast the superb acting of Kevin Cline who covers the time of 25 years. Capable players like Embeth Davitz, Steven Culp, Rob Morrow, Harris Yulin (as Senator), Patrick Dempsy, and Edward Herrmann appear, but the film belongs solely to Kevin Kline. But the comparion is also misleading, for this film shows a certain aspect of human nature in the end. I do not reveal it, but the film is mainly about one (just one) big failure that tormented "Mr. H" who believes in the idea of integrirty in life. He, simple teacher as he says, has a natural reason to regret what he had done to Sedgewick, or other students. This is the part that devides the opinions of the watchers. There is a moving finale that reminds you of "Mr. Holland," but the more faacinating side of the film is its undercurrent that makes you think. Clearly he made a mistake, though no one can deny that he is a good teacher. Can a man change by education? Can a teacher really mould the character of students? Though prep shcool is not exactly the place many of us can relate to, the theme is universal, and "The Emperor's Club" presents the question very boldly. Regrettably many factors of the film besides it are nothing original (like secret meeting girls in dorm), but still a worthy film about the value of education. And Kevin Cline is so good.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Film that Went Under the Radar
Review: The first thing that most people will think when they see this film is that it is an updated version of "Dead Poets' Society." The two films do have a lot in common: An inspiring teacher (Kline, in a superb performance), a reluctant student, and an elite boys school set in the 1950s. There, however, the similarities end. While "Dead Poets" was about a boy's coming of age, "Emperor's Club" is about a teacher's coming to grips with his life's failure. Personal character is the central theme, and it is approached in a truly inspired manner. I will leave the rest a surprise. This film will make you think about life; about successes and failures; and about the importance of virtue in one's life. Film's like this do not come around very often, and it is a true shame that "Emperor's Club" was overlooked while in theaters. I consider this film to be a masterpiece. Final Note: The cinematography in this film is absolutely stunning and will make you envious of those who have attended schools like the fictional "St. Benedict's."
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